PITTSBURGH, Pa. The Robert Morris University women's hockey team got back in the win column Friday night at Colonials Arena, taking down the visiting RIT Tigers by a final score of 5-1 The win moves RMU to 17-10-4 (11-5-2 CHA) on the season.
Leah Marino and Jaycee Gebhard each recorded a pair of assists on the evening, while Joelle Fiala, Maggy Burbidge, Lexi Templeman, Emily Curlett, and Natalie Marcuzzi all recorded goals. Raygan Kirk stopped 29 of 30 shots on goal to earn the victory between the pipes for RMU.
After slow starts and a pair of multi-goal deficits doomed them against Mercyhurst a week ago, the Colonials came out determined to start the game on a better note than in Erie.
"We thought our players and team responded extremely well," head coach Paul Colontino said. "I though the shifts we got in the second was completely game-changing in that we got some momentum off of some great goals, but goal that were created on some fundamentally sound hockey."Â
Fortunately for them, tough lessons learned against the Lakers sunk in. It didn't take long to make amends Friday nigh at the Island, as Fiala poked home a loose puck at the mouth of the crease to give RMU a 1-0 lead just 1:54 into the opening frame.
The goal was the second of the freshman's career and her first since scoring her first collegiate goal against Lindenwood on November 8 of 2019, shattering a streak of 19 straight games without a tally.
An RIT double-minor for hooking and body checking a little over a minute later gave the Colonials even more momentum as they continued to move the puck sharply open the man advantage, however a couple of big shot-blocks and a timely save from Tigers keeper Terra Lanteigne kept things at 1-0.
Despite a very open first period, neither team managed to generate a prolonged stretch of zone time, with both defensive units doing excellent work of clearing the zone for breakouts the other way.
An opportunistic Tigers squad managed to tie the game up with under two minutes to play, beating Kirk on just their tenth shot of the game.
A fresh sheet of ice led to more chances for the Colonials, who came perilously close to finding the go-ahead goal twice within a matter fo seconds.
First, Gebhard was denied on the door step with a nice pad save from Lanteigne after Templeman hit the captain with a perfect pass from the corner. Seconds later, Anjelica Diffendal found herself bearing down on Lanteigne on a mini breakaway, but the puck rolled off her stick before she could get a shot off.
The fast breaks continued to come for RMU, however, and before long the Colonials had blown the game wide open with three goals in the span of less than six minutes.
A nice outlet pass from Marino after breaking up a zone entry at the defensive blue line sprung Burbidge on a breakaway before the freshman walked in and picked a corner on Lanteigne with a perfectly-placed wrist shot to make it 2-1.
59 seconds later it was Templeman burying one off the rush, taking a nice feed from Gebhard in tight before waiting out Lanteigne on the backhand for her eighth goal of the year.
RIT could not stop the bleeding as the Colonials continued to forecheck furiously, spurred on by the sudden onslaught of goals. Emily Curlett's point shot just narrowly crossed the line at 11:47 of the second frame to make it 4-1 and put RMU on cruise control.
"It's fantastic in teh sense that you have a team that can rebound quickly," Colontino said. "You never want to put yourself in that position, but like today there are momenras where you somehow find yourself in that situation. I liked what we did in the second and third period, we were much more thorough, alot stronger on the puck and more fundementally sound."
After a tough break against Mercyhurst that saw RMU done in by a few crucial errors in quick succession, the Colonials responded with a championship effort Friday, putting together one of their strongest performances in all three zones of the ice en route to the win including a second period that saw them concede just six shots on goal.
A Marcuzzi shorty midway through the third put the cherry on top of what was a dominant win at home for the Colonials.
The Colonials wrap up their 2020 home schedule tomorrow at 3 p.m.when they host RIT one final time on Senior Day at The Island.
